County Democratic chief ends fundraiser's contract

Friday

Jun 8, 2012 at 12:01 AMJun 8, 2012 at 11:30 AM

The Franklin County Democratic Party is cutting ties with fundraiser Melissa Barnhart. With questions swirling about recent payments Barnhart was getting from the party for undocumented work said to have been done in 2007 and 2009, county Chairman Greg Schultz notified Barnhart via email yesterday that her consulting contract was being terminated, effective after 30 days.

Joe Vardon, The Columbus Dispatch

The Franklin County Democratic Party is cutting ties with fundraiser Melissa Barnhart.

With questions swirling about recent payments Barnhart was getting from the party for undocumented work said to have been done in 2007 and 2009, county Chairman Greg Schultz notified Barnhart via email yesterday that her consulting contract was being terminated, effective after 30 days.

“This decision was made in the best interests of the Party at this time,” Schultz wrote to Barnhart in an email that was obtained by The Dispatch. “This severing of the Contract is in no way a validation of the accusations in the media.”

Barnhart, and to a lesser extent Schultz, are at the center of a growing controversy surrounding payments totaling at least $20,500 that Barnhart received beginning in March 2011 — shortly after Schultz became chairman — for additional work she said she did on Columbus City Council races years ago.

There was no record of any debt to Barnhart on any campaign-finance reports, and the three former party officials Barnhart said could vouch for the debt she was owed all failed to do so when approached by The Dispatch.

Barnhart’s consulting contract as a fundraiser with the county party was “executed” some time in 2011, according to Barnhart’s attorney, former Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner. Barnhart is also the fundraiser locally for Sheriff Zach Scott, county Commissioner Paula Brooks and T.J. Brown, a candidate for Franklin County recorder. Schultz’s action does not directly affect her arrangements with those clients.

Brunner said “a major reason the public has become disillusioned with politics and politicians is that the truth seems to no longer be a prerequisite,” and that Barnhart “will pursue all legal options necessary to protect her livelihood.”

Multiple state and county agencies either have launched inquiries or are considering them for the Barnhart payments. Barnhart has produced a spreadsheet that shows she was owed $63,000 from the 2007 and 2009 races, and in April the party filed amended campaign reports to reflect the debt.

Barnhart was hired by state party Chairman Chris Redfern in 2007 and 2009 to raise cash for coordinated council races. In correspondences obtained by The Dispatch, Redfern said that all expenses and staff salaries tied to those races were paid for through the state party.

On Wednesday, The Dispatch reported that Schultz was taking heat from party officials who were demanding an explanation for the payments. He emailed the party’s entire central and executive committees yesterday in an apparent response to two highly critical emails he received from members of those committees. But, in the email, he only repeated a version of previous statements he’s made that he “ became aware” of the debts Barnhart was owed when he became chairman.

Barnhart was a driving force behind the failed attempt to replace Redfern atop the state Democratic party with Lorain attorney Anthony Giardini in April. Her name also was mentioned several times in a recently released report of a federal investigation into a former client of hers for possible campaign finance misconduct in 2006.